Beyerdynamic MMX 150 Wireless gaming headset review

Beyerdynamic is a highly respected name in the audio world, and for good reason. In fact, you'll find the top spot in our best audiophile headphones for gaming guide is taken up by the Beyerdynamic MMX 330 Pro, a wired set that adds a microphone to the company's tried and tested "great drivers, plush earpads" design philosophy, making for an excellent high-end headset option.

Its offerings, however, are not cheap. Enter the Beyerdynamic MMX 150 Wireless, which aims to be a more-reasonably-priced addition to its headset range. It's a $230 wireless gaming headset. This is also, let's face it, not cheap.

However, you do get a selection of Beyerdynamic's hardware highlights for your cash, and that's a pretty good start. Beyond some lovely drivers (I'll be waxing lyrical about those in a moment), you also get a pair of fluffy velour earpads, a well-padded headband, and a proper 2.4 GHz wireless connection, along with a removable "Meta Voice" (whatever that means) microphone. It's also got Bluetooth 5.3 support, so you can take it out into the big wide world as a regular set of headphones. Excellent.

What I'm not particularly convinced by, however, are the concessions to a lower price point found across the chassis design. The outer earcup material feels a little grainy and thin, and the bright orange plastic controls are flimsy. I appreciate a gaming headset that keeps the price down, but for $200+, I'd expect the trimmings to be of a higher quality than this.

I'm also not fond of the large LED ring around the already-luminous volume wheel, which flashes green on occasion to let you know the set's connected. It's very distracting, and while I don't mind a small LED to let me know my headset's on while I rest it atop my desk, a big flashing reminder that I'm using up the battery every few seconds feels unnecessary.

Particularly as this set has 50-hour battery life, which is pretty good. It's not spectacular, mind, but while many gaming headsets are still stuck in the 30-hours-or-less doldrums, I'll take it.

However, plopping the MMX 150 on my head for the first time reveals a Beyerdynamic trademark: comfort. The huge velour earpads are extremely plush, and the passive noise isolation is ace. More than that, the padded memory foam headband and firm-yet-fair clamping force makes for a very cossetting experience. The controls might feel a little ropey, but the experience of wearing the set itself still feels premium.

It's just as well the passive noise isolation is grand, as there's no active noise cancellation to speak of, which feels like a bit of an omission at this price point. You can hold down the volume wheel to activate an "augmented" mode, though, which is essentially a microphone-enhanced transparency mode to get around the sound isolation of the earpads.

It's quite tinny-sounding to my ears, so I left it off for most of my testing. Still, the MMX 150 does an admirable job of keeping you inside your own sonic bubble by default, which means you get to experience its 40 mm drivers at their very best.

And excellent drivers they are, too. Rather than focussing on overly-crunchy accuracy, the Beyerdynamic efforts feel like they've been tuned for sweetness, with a sparkly, smooth quality that extends throughout the frequency range. Bass is delivered in honey-toned dollops without becoming too overblown—which, combined with the weighty mid-range response, makes for some seriously good audio.

It's not like detail has been sacrificed in the process, either, as some multiplayer shooter testing reveals a surprising amount of top-end clarity poking through the mix, alongside all those toasty mid-range and bass tones. It's not exactly audiophile-level stuff, but it sounds so hi-fi-like with its slightly boosted tuning, I doubt many will care.

The soundstage is also a highlight, as the sweetness of the treble response translates to airy, wide soundscapes with relative ease. The MMX 150 sounds confident in everything it does, and while it's not the sharpest audio banger I've heard in recent months, it's got an appreciable warmth and sizzle to its response that makes it very satisfying to listen to.

It's also got the sort of sound separation and mid-to-low-end grunt that makes you pull an appreciative face when you crank up your tunes, and that can be a rare thing in the gaming headset world.

The microphone's good, too, being one of Beyerdynamic's Meta Voice units. It's got more richness in its capture than you'll find in most headset microphones, and provides a clear sound that's quite pleasant to listen to—although it's a little prone to sibilance. There's also no Windows software for noise cancelling or audio tweaking, which is a bit of a shame.

Beyerdynamic MMX 150 Wireless mic test

Still, after a poor first impression, the Beyerdynamic MMX 150 is definitely a grower. While the feature set and chassis design feels a little basic, the overall experience you receive when you put this set on soon quells most of those early disappointments. It's a lovely-sounding and very comfortable thing, and those facts simply cannot be ignored.

For a sub-$200 price point, I'd be inclined to score the MMX 150 even higher (although admittedly, it is significantly cheaper in Europe). Stick with that $200+ range, though, and the Beyerdynamic set starts running into some seriously stiff competition.

Take the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro, for example. It's got Razer's new 50 mm TriForce Bio-Cellulose drivers, active noise cancelling, and a build quality that puts the Beyerdynamic's odd combination of materials to shame. It's a touch more expensive at $250, but you're getting a lot more features for your cash.

And if that's too rich for your blood, the regular, ANC-less Razer BlackShark V3 is $150. It's our current pick for the best gaming headset, and gives the MMX 150 a serious headache thanks to its excellent TriForce titanium drivers, also-comfortable chassis design, great mic, and better battery life overall if you switch between its ultra-low-latency options.

Or, if we're still sitting around the $200 price point range, there's the Fractal Design Scape to consider. It doesn't sound quite as good as the Beyerdynamic set, and it's got a lesser microphone. But the addition of a clever wireless charging stand means it's convenient as all get out, and it's full of little touches that tell you where your money went.

It's a better-looking headset for taking out and about, too, as the MMX 150 is chunky (and orange) enough to make itself look a little too gamer-chic for public use, in my opinion.

Still, I'd happily listen to (and wear) the Beyerdynamic MMX 150 all day long, thanks to those excellent drivers and plush earpads. It's not perfect, and I wish it had a few more features for the cash. But I can't deny, its audio chops have been making me grin like an idiot all week—and for that, it gets a solid thumbs up from me.